{"id":5658,"date":"2025-12-22T15:36:43","date_gmt":"2025-12-22T20:36:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/fondationduchum.com\/?p=5658"},"modified":"2026-02-25T16:08:04","modified_gmt":"2026-02-25T21:08:04","slug":"dogs-as-a-source-of-comfort-and-connection-in-palliative-care","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fondationduchum.com\/en\/news\/dogs-as-a-source-of-comfort-and-connection-in-palliative-care\/","title":{"rendered":"Dogs as a source of comfort and connection in palliative care"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Time moves slow in a palliative care room. Movements are gentler, silences linger longer and every moment of presence matters. Some days, that presence can look a little different. A dog comes in quietly, looks around, then walks up with soothing calm.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The animal-assisted therapy program at the&nbsp;<strong>Centre hospitalier de l\u2019Universit\u00e9 de Montr\u00e9al (CHUM)<\/strong>&nbsp;offers patients a much welcome moment of connection and care that goes beyond the strictly medical.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe title=\"La zooth\u00e9rapie en soins palliatifs\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/YOTuD-cANx8?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Simple moments that change everything<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Dr. Richard Hovey, 67, associate professor at McGill\u2019s Faculty of Dental Medicine, has been living with cancer for six years. When treatment no longer helped, he was moved to palliative care.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>One morning, a knock on his door brought an unexpected visitor: a therapy dog. Richard didn\u2019t think twice about inviting them in. Animals have always held a special place in his life, and seeing a dog instantly brings back precious memories. He feels like a weight has been lifted after every visit.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p>\u201cFacing the end of your life can be a lot to bear, so anything that eases that burden is priceless. Dogs are such a stress reliever. There\u2019s no better way to feel better.\u201d<br>\u2014 <strong>Dr. Richard Hovey<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p>For Ariane, assistant head nurse in the Palliative Care unit, the benefits of animal-assisted therapy are undeniable.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p>\u201cThe end of life can often bring feelings of pain, anxiety and isolation. Animal-assisted therapy is one more tool, in addition to the usual medication. Animals give patients a break from their symptoms and provide them with a bit of tenderness. That comfort is so important.\u201d<br>\u2014 <strong>Ariane Dufour<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p>The presence of these friendly four-legged companions is a reminder that we can still ease the burden of palliative care patients and allow them to reminisce and feel supported, even in their most vulnerable moments.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center\"><em>Animal-assisted therapy at the CHUM is made possible thanks to the support of Beneva.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-columns is-layout-flex wp-container-core-columns-is-layout-28f84493 wp-block-columns-is-layout-flex\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\" style=\"flex-basis:5%\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\" style=\"flex-basis:90%\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image aligncenter size-full is-resized\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/fondationduchum.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/icone_coeur_RVB_jaune-e1770395256497.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-1230\" style=\"width:92px;height:auto\"\/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\" style=\"flex-basis:5%\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Time moves slow in a palliative care room. Movements are gentler, silences linger longer and[&#8230;];<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":5655,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[19,49],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5658","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-impacts-and-achievements","category-other"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/fondationduchum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5658","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/fondationduchum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/fondationduchum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fondationduchum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fondationduchum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5658"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/fondationduchum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5658\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6403,"href":"https:\/\/fondationduchum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5658\/revisions\/6403"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fondationduchum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5655"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/fondationduchum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5658"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fondationduchum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5658"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fondationduchum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5658"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}